The Clowder
by Weavly
Summary: What happens when a group of werecats comes to the Forks for a mysterious reason. What happens if Jacob imprints on a different person? Will these cats fight with the wolf pack or befriend them? Find out! (Almost all Twilight characters are in here, I don't have time to write every one of them down.)
1. Chapter 1

Maria slinked forward as the man she was watching strolled towards the opposite wall. Surrounding them were cages full cramped cats and dogs all with cheesy "Adopt Me!" signs hanging off the sides. And as the dogs slept, unaware of what was happening, the cats were all pacing restlessly, knowing that escape was close.

_ Be still!_ She ordered. It wouldn't do any good if the employee would become suspicious and foil her plans of an easy take-down. The fidgety felines immediately stopped in their tracks and stood there, alert, tails twitching and ears flicking.

_Don't just stand there! Act normal._ _Anybody makes this harder than it should be and I'll be skinning you alive and feeding you to the dogs._ She almost snarled out loud as the cats crouched down as one, trembling of fear. These stupid pea-brained domestics and their inability to follow simple orders. They had to be fed every action individually and ruined everything you-

A soft hand lightly touched her hand as a soothing voice interrupted her thoughts. _Maria, the angrier you get, the more afraid they will be. If you asked them politely to just calm down until we can take down the man, they would be happy to oblige._

Maria coldly glared down at the round, calm face surrounded with long platinum blonde hair. _Have you forgotten your place Sylvia?_ She asked coldly as she flicked away the dainty, frail-looking hand. _We are their superiors. They will not _choose_ whether to listen to us. They _will _listen to us. You're too soft-hearted for your own good._

_ I take it you're not going to spare the man either?_ Her eyes bore into the taller, heavier woman with her short cropped dark brown hair and hard, cold face.

_ You know he could jeopardize this entire mission if he talks to the authorities. It'd be best to dispose of him and be done with it._ She stared right back at the small yet persistent woman, daring her to argue. She raised her eyebrow as they continued their short staring contest, until a quiet sigh and averted eyes told her she had won. Good. She didn't want to have to put her old friend in her place, but she would if she had to.

Sylvia didn't like to harm innocent people, but she knew that Maria had a point. She despised the thought of ending his life, but she knew it had to be done. She followed Maria as they stalked silently towards their victim. She jumped forward and clamped her hand over his mouth as Maria stepped in front and quickly snapped his neck before his muffled cries could alarm anyone to their presence. She looked up from his cold crumpled body and nodded to Sylvia. _You know what to do._

Sylvia looked up as she heard the words. Yes, she knew what to do. She would have to unleash her inner beast and make it look like an accident while Maria released all the animals so the authorities wouldn't notice that only the cats were gone. She closed her eyes and prepared for it as she heard the first cage door open with a _click_.

* * *

"**_Breaking News: Adoption Center Employee Found Mauled."_** The 7 o'clock News was flitting in between a woman with a very worried look on her face asking if it was a bear, to a man with an equally worried looking face replying that they don't know, but to stay calm.

"That wouldn't happen to have been you, would it?" Vanessa asked with a smirk, hovering over her cereal bowl.

"And what if it was?" Maria shot back. "You better get your nose out of my business before I take it out for you."

"Ooooooo, I'm _soooo_ scared. C'mon we all know you won't hurt me. Right, Sylvia?"

"Now you know that Maria does her best to protect you guys and help you grow to your full potential." Sylvia hesitantly started. "But you know what happens when you break the rules… You have to be punished. And as leader of this Clowder, Maria is the one to distribute punishments. So _theoretically_, yes, she could hurt you."

"This whole Clowder thing is really pissing me off." Vanessa glared at the two older women, not noticing her highlighted brown hair had ended up in her cereal bowl. "I could just walk out of here and out of this whole thing."

Maria stalked towards her, furious. "No. You _can't_, and you _won't_. When's the last time you looked at your back? You _wanted_ to be in the Clowder. You _wanted_ to help the greater good. You will _not_ back out of the promises you made when you received that mark. _Do you understand?_"

Vanessa flinched at the ferocious woman in front of her. "Yes, I understand." She tried to make her features look as submissive as possible, and held that position until Maria walked back to the couch and sat down next to Sylvia.

"Good. Don't make that mistake again." She warned. She began flipping through the channels and paid no further attention to Vanessa.

_You're really going to just ignore her like that?_ Sylvia asked, feeling bad for the poor girl.

_What do you propose? I go make her a cake? If you feel bad cause she's just sitting there, feel free to get her to bring the other girls down. I'm done with her. Besides, we need to talk about our mission and get them prepared._

Sylvia sighed. Of course it was up to her. "Vanessa, why don't you go wake the others up. You could help us get them ready for this mission."

Vanessa rolled her eyes. She just _hated_ when they ordered her around like that. She tossed her bowl in the sink and trudged up the stairs, taking her time just to irritate them. At least she'd get to find out why she was here.

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_**A/N-**__** Hey there! So there goes my first ever chapter to my first ever (published) story! I know it's really short but I want to hear what you guys think. Is this story worth it or not? Meaning, would you read another chapter if I decided to publish another? If so then get ready to click that review button and give me feedback! I do need to get better somehow. Thanks for reading!**_


	2. Chapter 2

_**A/N**__**- I would like to take just a moment to celebrate the first favorite of this story from PANAFiiED! Honestly, I was not expecting one so early! That really got me motivated, though, and I made sure to get the next chapter out super quick. (And just in time for the Fourth of July for those in America! Think of it as a present ^.^) Thanks again and I hope you guys like this chapter.**_

_**Although this isn't really necessary, I need to say that Stephanie Meyer owns Twilight. I only own my OC's. And I promise I'll get those Twilight characters in soon! I just need my character's explained so there won't be any confusion later. Two more chapters. At the most. I promise.**_

* * *

"So," Maria started, irked that four girls sitting in front of her had taken so long to get down. "Now that you have taken your _sweet time_ to get down here,-"

A high pitched voice interrupted her, "Well, what do you expect? We _are _girls. I mean you can't expect us to fix our hair, put on make-up, brush our-" Maria snarled and whipped around to face the curly haired girl that had spoken up. She found a strange pleasure in watching her cringe so much that even her strawberry blonde hair seemed to wilt.

"Clearly, Vanessa hasn't told you anything about me." She spat out, staring the bewildered girls down. "I am _Maria._ Ring a bell. I would have expected Sylvia at least to teach you how to _not _get beaten up by me. I will _not_ tolerate anything other than respect. I am your Clowder leader, and you _will_ treat me like it, or there will be consequences. Understood?"

She waited until every one of the frightened girls had nodded before continuing. "Now, as I was saying, you are all here for a reason. You have the skills necessary to aid us in our mission, and you have all volunteered to serve for the greater good. You have all become a part of this Clowder, and you went through the Marking. This, as you will soon find out, has given you some… Unique abilities."

Vanessa, the only one brave enough to talk at the moment, snorted. "You mean besides the fact that we turn into giant cats?"

Maria sighed. That girl just knew how to push all of her buttons without going over the edge. It was infuriating. "Yes. In fact, we're going to start right now. Now, being a part of the Clowder means you are a part of a team. What is the most essential part of the functioning of a team?"

"Getting along?"

"Listening?"

"Cooperating?"

Now this is better, Maria thought. Seeing the girls working to find an answer really showed what laid past appearances. _These are the girls I wanted. These are the girls I want to see. _"All good ideas, but no. _Communication. _It's essential. And as werecats, we can do it a lot more efficiently than any human."

A petite girl with tightly curled auburn hair timidly spoke up, terrified of what would happen should the question annoy strict older woman. "Excuse me? May I ask…?" When Maria, slightly impatient for all the interruptions, nodded, she continued. "I don't quite see how we can communicate better than humans. We talk the same as humans, we have the same body language, we have the same hearing… We even have the same type of speech."

Maria was slightly impressed at this girl's capability for reasoning. She was one to watch.

_I agree._ Sylvia said, startling Maria. She had not realized that she had thought out loud, and had even forgotten Sylvia was in the room. _With her intelligence, she may just uncover our plan. We should make sure that she especially is convinced with our little story._

_Yes…_ Agreed Maria. She was surprised Sylvia agreed with her, and especially that the kind, calm woman would think like that, especially because she hated to lie.

"That is very good thinking, but no. We _do_ have an extra method of communication. Watch." The girls all watched with wide-eyes as Maria's eyes glassed over and her face lost all expression. Seconds later they all simultaneously jumped in shock as they heard Maria's voice in their heads:

_This is more difficult than usual, for I extremely tired and you do not yet know how to open yourself to thoughts, or shield them. That makes you vulnerable. We need you to open yourself to only the Clowder's thoughts, and shield your thoughts from any other prying minds._

They stared at Maria with gaping mouths, and everyone but Vanessa was speechless.

"Guys, seriously? You can turn into giant-fricking-cats and it did not have occurred to you that there might be more?"

Even Sylvia's expression hardened at this. "Vanessa!" She chided. "They have not been Shifters for as long as you have. They have only Turned a handful of times, and are not yet completely able to control it. This whole supernatural world is still hard to digest for them. I'm starting to get tired of you being an ignorant brat."

Maria just chucked and shook her head. Finally. Maybe _now_ Vanessa would listen. She did seem to have more respect for the other woman. "So anyway." She interrupted the glaring contest between them and continued these girls' training. "We are going to need you to try to do what I just did. Basically throw you thoughts out, but direct them towards the rest of us. For, practice, we will have you introduce yourselves to us. Now, who would like to go first?"

Vanessa smirked and slowly drawled, "Well then, I guess I'll have to go first and show all of these younglings how it's done."

Sylvia frowned, "Alright Vanessa, but I'm warning you, don't make a fool of yourself. It's harder than it looks."

"Please, I've got this." Was her snarky reply. She looked over to Maria, "Just tell me when to start."

Knowing that she was about to be knocked down a peg, Maria gleefully started instructing the arrogant-soon-to-be-humiliated Vanessa.

"Okay. Concentrate on a single thought. Got it? Good. Now let it take shape. Don't try to mold it, that will only make it more difficult. Feel it's shape. Is it soft or hard? Is it smooth or jagged? Is it large or small? Let it fill your mind until it's the only thing you are thinking of. Then scoop it up, and shoot it toward us. Just feel it stretching-" She was interrupted as Vanessa's thoughts suddenly filled her mind.

_My name is Vanessa Tozzi. I am 17 years old, 18 in about 2 months. Sylvia there saved me from that orphanage where I had escaped from my horrid parents. It turns out I was a werecat, and Sylvia's presence made me Turn. She started training me, and she and Maria have turned me into a true werecat. This is a stupid idea, since I'm not going to get to you thick-heads, but I'm glad to be a part of something. I am where I belong._

Bored, she looked around the room, and as she watched all of the amazed faces around her, it dawned on her that she must have gotten through. _Damn_. She thought to herself. They weren't going to appreciate that thickhead comment…

"Wow." Maria spoke first. "That… That was done like a natural. I wonder…"

But Sylvia cut her off before she could finish the thought. "Good, Vanessa. Now the others have somewhere to start. Follow her example, and one-by-one, introduce yourselves."

The other girls quickly found out that it was nowhere as easy as Vanessa had made it look. They struggled and they strived and they worked all day, until they had finally all introduced themselves. The outspoken girl with the strawberry-blonde hair that had first faced the wrath of Maria was Olivia. She could fluently speak almost every language the girls had ever heard of. Next was Lexi, with light blonde, slightly wavy hair. She was very fidgety, and the most plain out of all of the girls, yet still beautiful. Last, with a lot of struggling and sweating, was Paige. With her layered auburn hair, she often got her curly hair into trouble, much like Vanessa. In fact, she was almost like a mini version of Vanessa, although she did know not to cross the line.

"Alright everyone, good job." Sylvia finally let the girls have some rest. "You get the rest of the day to relax. Once you have gotten a good hang on the thoughts thing will we let you leave short-distances, but for now, you need to stay inside, where it's safe." The girls groaned, but she ignored them. "We also have a last-minute addition. She will be arriving on Sunday, in two days. Make sure to fill her in when she gets here. She will be another of your closest friends due to the bond, like you all are to each other, so make sure to take care of her. Dismissed." She waved them off.

The girls all went off to do who-knows-what, and Sylvia, exhausted, plopped down next to Maria on the couch.

All in all, Maria was proud of these girls' accomplishments. Although they still had trouble every time they wanted to send or receive a thought, they had done more than she would ever have expected any normal werecat to do. _We picked well. _She thought to Sylvia.

_Indeed, we did._

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_**A/N****- (To my American readers out there, happy Fourth of July!) I hope you guys liked this chapter, and be sure to review if you want me to keep writing, and keep writing quickly. Well, I'm not good at goodbyes so... *snaps fingers and disappears***  
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